Datura
by Ryaninthesky
Summary: Betty, jealous of Veronica's attention to Cheryl, processes her feelings over the course of four conversations
1. Chapter 1

It started during the memorial. Betty watched, stomach in knots, as Veronica rushed up to hug Cheryl Blossom.

"Oh my god…" slipped between her lips, low and soft but not enough to get past Kevin.

"I know. Poor Cheryl."

That wasn't it. Or, it was, but it wasn't. Or it wasn't all, or...Betty didn't know. All she could do was sit there, stunned, sick, shivering, as if the ghost of Jason Blossom had risen from the casket and was walking among them.

Jason wasn't there. Of course. He was cold and dead and decaying somewhere, a bloated memory slowly putrefying, souring everything around them even though he no longer lived. Infecting everything.

He made her sister sick.

He made her father sick.

And the way Cheryl was looking at Veronica, nakedly, with all the selfish desperation of a drowning woman, uncaringly dragging others underwater in the need to survive, to breathe.

The same way she looked at Jason.

It was making Betty sick.

As it turned out, there was so much more that she didn't know, about her family, about Polly and her dad, that she quickly pushed the jealousy she felt when she saw Veronica embracing Cheryl out of her head.

Because even if she knew just one thing, it was that she was never going to be like Polly.

* * *

The next day was warm and sunny, which Betty took as a personal affront considering the clouds of suspicion and intrigue that seemed to hang around Riverdale like a noose. But the prospect of her life becoming a murder mystery wasn't going to prevent her from drowning her sorrows in a milkshake and onion rings at Pop's, where she was currently sitting in a booth across from Archie and Jughead.

"Ho-ly shit. You guys." Veronica slid into the seat next to Betty, closing her hand around Betty's straw - which Betty was still holding, actually, which was kind of awkward but barely registered on the scale of someone who had kissed her on their second day of meeting - and drawing it to her lips. "Why did no one tell me Cheryl Blossom's family is straight out of a gothic novel? I expected to see Mrs. Rochester locked up in the attic somewhere."

Jughead nodded around his burger. "Did you meet the granny Blossom? They say she hasn't left the house in years. She'd probably turn to ash in the sun if she tried."

"Ugh, don't say things like that. I didn't get any sleep at all the other night. I kept expecting her mom to murder us all in our beds."

Betty jerked her hand away, almost tipping the milkshake over.

"Wait, why were you sleeping at Cheryl's?"

Veronica looked at her strangely. "Because she invited me to a totally creepy sleepover and while it was the most awkward dinner party of my life, she still lost her brother and needs a friend. I can relate." Veronica looked down. "When they...when my dad left, no one would talk to me. The people I thought were my friends, well, let's just say there turned out to be a lot more interested in my dad's money than my incredible wit and charm. I know it was kinda my fault for surrounding myself with people like that, but...even though I used to be a total bitch. I could have used a friend."

Pain and shame rose on Betty's face as she thought about what Veronica had gone through and remembered the jealousy she'd felt at the memorial. Of course Cheryl needed a friend. Of course Veronica had reached out to her when they had so much in common. Of course.

Betty prided herself on being a good person. She thought she was a good person, at least. She tried to be a good person, and everyone told her she was one. Good people didn't get jealous over their friends hugging a grieving sister at her brother's funeral. Good people shared. Good people were selfless.

Betty was a good person, so she made up her mind to let Veronica have the whole milkshake. It was a small penance to pay for her sins.

She felt amply repaid when Ronnie turned to her with dancing eyes and a wicked smile and asked her about her 'not-date' with Trevor.

* * *

Jughead insisted she spend the next day with him at the river after school. Something about the inspiration of the murder scene, even though they didn't know exactly where Jason was killed, nor could they have gotten around the police presence if they had.

Letting her eyes follow the rushing water downstream, she wondered if blood and maple syrup looked the same in the swirling muddy depths.

"My dad said Jason's great-grandad killed mine."

Jughead looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

"That's a long time to hold a grudge."

She nodded. "He said the Blossoms wanted to cheat us out of the maple syrup fortune."

Jughead snorted. "Seriously?! Tell him to make up a better story. If I put that in my book no one'd believe it."

"Hm. Yeah, I'll be sure to let him know right after I explain I'm trying to find out if he murdered Jason." The rain in the mountains upriver was washing all kind of trash downstream; at some point some flowers had gotten caught up in the swell and were sliding past them, disappearing and reappearing in the churning water.

"Do you think you could ever love something enough to give up everything you've ever known?"

He chuckled. "Well, I don't think burgers are going anywhere, so…"

"Ok, good point." She shrugged. "I was just thinking about Polly. And Jason, I guess, since his grandmother thought I was her. They were engaged, Juggy, and she never told anyone. Not even me. She probably thought she couldn't trust me." She paused. "She was probably right."

"No offence, Bets, you know I love you, but isn't this something you'd rather be talking to Veronica about? Or, like, anyone else? Please?"

"And that's another thing! Veronica keeps blowing me off for Cheryl!"

"It was like one time."

"No, she texted me today to cancel our study night because Cheryl needed to cry on her or something. Last week they hated each other!"

"I'm pretty sure Cheryl's not trying to take Veronica away from you."

Jealousy clawed at her chest. "I'd like to see her try." She hated the roughness of her voice even as it made her feel powerful. She thought of the black wig, and red lipstick.

It made her think of Veronica, too. The way her dark eyes flicked over her body when Betty had emerged in the lingerie, as if she didn't want to look but couldn't help it. The way Veronica's lipstick had tasted on her lips. Belatedly, she realized it was the same red as the tube her mother had hated. She wondered where she would have been right now if Veronica hadn't rolled into town like her own personal avenging angel, sorting out 16 years of pining over Archie the first week, with enough time left over to make Betty a cheerleader and inspire her to start standing up for herself.

Betty thought about Veronica a lot.

"Calm down, killer. I'm sure the high school hierarchy will soon revert to its natural order and you and Veronica can get back to makeovers or braiding each other's hair or whatever else it is you do together." He threw a rock into the water, annoyed at the lack of progress they'd made today. "Let's get back. Jason isn't getting any deader."


	2. Chapter 2

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Betty is the sun!"

"Oh my god Kevin, shut up!" Betty lightly hit him with one of the textbooks she was getting out of her locker and he pretended to be mortally wounded. "You just had English, didn't you?"

Kevin grinned at her. "I thought the teacher was going to cry when it was Moose's turn to read aloud. 16th century English plays are _not_ his strong suit."

"You mean you aren't attracted to him for his literary genius? I'm shocked."

"If he only had a brain." He sing-songed back at her dramatically.

"You'd do what, Dorothy?" Veronica cut in, coming to a stop in front of Betty's locker. She didn't wait for his reply before placing a hand on Betty's arm and continuing. "Do you mind if we re-schedule our study night? Cheryl said her parents won't be coming home until late tonight and I want to check in on her. I'm worried if she spends any more time alone she'll start wandering the halls with a candelabra and haunting windows." The words were spoken in her usual careless tone, but Betty could see in her eyes she was worried. And Betty could understand that, she really could.

Her heart, however, was lurching around pulling up every memory it could of the times Veronica had come over to Betty's when her parents weren't around, their heads bent close over textbooks or magazines. Or when they'd watch netflix on Betty's laptop, cuddled up on her bed so they could both see the screen. She could smell Veronica's perfume, feel the press of skin against skin.

"Earth to tall, blonde, and beautiful." Veronica laughingly waved a hand in front of her face. "You in there?"

The same perfume was making her dizzy, the hand on her arm making her ill. She smiled, closed-mouthed, and it did not reach her eyes. "Of course not Ronnie. You go ahead. I'm sure Cheryl could use the company; I'm actually not feeling well, I'll probably get to bed early anyway." She hoped she sounded a lot more convincing to Veronica than she did to herself.

"Oh, _pobrecita._ " Veronica placed the back of her hand against Betty's forehead. "You do feel a little flushed. I'll text you after I leave Cheryl's, ok?"

Veronica did look worried and Betty's stomach lurched with guilt. At least the nausea helped sell her story. "Ok. Have a good time."

Veronica leaned up to press a quick kiss against Betty's check as she brushed past. " _Gracias, querida._ " Then she was gone as quickly as she'd come, leaving Betty blushing and Kevin staring with his mouth open.

"I swear, the two of you are better than watching HBO."

Betty rounded on him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Easy." Kevin placed his hands up in defense. "I just mean...Veronica rolls into town and suddenly you're kissing girls and she's sending you make-up flowers and cupcakes from New York and you're pretending to be sick because she cancelled on you for another girl. That's, like, a hundred times more action than you've gotten from Archie in _years_.

"We're not gay, Kev."

'YES, YES YOU ARE, YOU'RE SO VERY GAY FOR VERONICA LODGE THAT THE ONLY PERSON IN THIS ENTIRE SCHOOL WHO CAN'T SEE IT IS VERONICA BECAUSE SHE IS, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN GAYER FOR YOU.' Kevin thought, putting a fair amount of effort behind it on the off chance that enough energy would somehow transmit his brainwaves to Betty and/or Veronica and he could stop being the only out gay person in this one-horse town. Alternately, so that the lesbian teen drama would fade into lesbian domestic bliss and they could get back to talking about _his_ problems once in awhile. Alas, it was not to be.

"Of course not." Kevin said. "But what happened to 'It'll only last a couple of weeks and then she'll find some other girl to destroy?'"

"Well, obviously I was still mad about her kissing Archie. It's not like I wasn't ever going to talk to her again. We worked it out."

"Uh-huh. And you're going to go home now and obsess over what Veronica is doing at Cheryls and probably listen sad songs because….?"

Betty huffed. "I am not going to mope around my bedroom all night. Sorry to disappoint."

He stepped in front of her, blocking as many possible escape routes as he could and looking at her with serious eyes. "Elizabeth Cooper, you have been one of my best friends since I moved here, and you just lied to _your_ best friend. You're jealous of Ronnie and Cheryl hanging out, aren't you?"

`Kevin...she's the only real girlfriend I've ever had. So I guess, yes, I am a little jealous that she's been blowing me off for Cheryl. But, I get it. Her brother _died._ So if Veronica can help her cope right now I shouldn't get upset about it.

Kevin glanced down to where her fingernails were clenched against her palms. He didn't think she even noticed.

"Just because you shouldn't feel hurt doesn't mean you don't. It's ok to have feelings." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "It's ok to be a little selfish now and then." It was clear Betty was wound up so tight she didn't know which way was up, and he didn't want to push her too hard. He wasn't sure even Veronica would be able to put her back together if he did.

She smiled softly and bumped his shoulder. "Maybe you're the one being jealous that I've been hanging out with Veronica so much. Want to walk me home?"

"I'm not sure I like being your second choice, Ms. Cooper."

"You'll probably get to see Archie shirtless."

Kevin just laughed as they passed through the empty halls of Riverdale High School and into the bright fall afternoon.

* * *

For all her determination not to let Kevin be right, Betty couldn't seem to focus. Homework, tv, even some half-hearted research into the mythical maple syrup fortune for Jughead couldn't hold her attention for long. She'd try to put the unhealthy thoughts out of her head, then immediately something would remind her of Veronica, which would lead to wondering what Veronica was up to, which would lead to that distinctly ill feeling she had to admit seemed a lot like jealousy. And the vicious cycle would continue.

About the time a random glance at her toothbrush evoked images of Veronica's smile and a slightly disturbing desire to break Cheryl's Betty decided she needed an intervention.

Betty: 'You up?'

Archie: 'In the garage, y?'

Betty: 'I need a break. Can I come over?'

Archie: 'sure. Don't let my dad see."

Archie was waiting to let Betty in a couple of minutes later when she knocked on the door. Two quick, pause, one, pause, two, their old signal.

"I feel like we're 10 and I'm sneaking into your room again."

"But this time I doubt you're going to kick my ass at Mortal Kombat."

"Andrews, I will kick your ass at any game, any time, any where."

Archie laughed, enveloping Betty in a hug, and automatically she tried to relax into him before realizing she couldn't, not any more. At least, not in the same, easy way she did just a few months ago, when she had been convinced they were going to grow old together and get matching rocking chairs. She felt so stupid now.

Betty gently pushed away from Archie, picking up some sheet music and thumbing through it.

"How's the rock star life going?"

"It's not really. I've been working on that for ever and it doesn't ever seem to be right."

"'I missed the train / I lost the fight / If it's destiny / How do I make it right?' Archie, that's not bad."

He ducked his head. "I can't really take credit for that one. It was something Veronica said when, y'know, we were all fighting after Cheryl's party. She said she felt like you and she were destined to be friends, and when you were fighting, it was like she had missed the train to the rest of her life. I just kind of repurposed it, I guess."

It was like a whirlwind Betty couldn't escape. Sooner or later, it all came back to Veronica.

"Arch...can I ask you something?"

"Nothing's ever stopped you before."

"It's about Mrs. Grundy."

He sat down, picking up his guitar and strumming a few cords before he answered. "As long as I don't have to promise to answer."

"I was just wondering...how did being with her make you feel?"

"I guess, she made me feel like I was special. Like when we were together, the whole world melted away and it was just us, and there was no pressure from my dad or anyone else. I could just be me. Does that make sense? And it was nice, to, y'know, feel like someone wanted me so much."

Betty's breath caught in her throat and Archie looked at her guiltily. "I'm so sorry, Bets. I didn't know."

"No, no, it's my fault. I never told you how I felt and I was an idiot to just expect that one day we would just fall into each other's arms. The world doesn't work that way. For either of us."

"I would do anything for you, you know that. But I think, if we'd ever gotten together, we would've ended up hating each other. We both know I'm not as smart as you, so we probably wouldn't have gotten into the same college. And we don't talk about books or journalism or any of that stuff that really matters to you." He was standing up again, gently setting down his guitar and cupping her face in his hands, gently wiping away a tear she hadn't even noticed. "You'll always be my best friend."

Betty hugged him fiercely, and the awkwardness of earlier was gone. She'd been putting too much on him, she thought. Archie was a great guy, and he wasn't responsible for her crush on him, or for saving her from her mother or anything else. They're both growing up, and the little girl who would have married Archie at 18 is gone now, replaced by a young woman who, maybe, wanted something different. Someone different.

* * *

Of course, figuring out that you've gone from hopeless endgame crush on your male best friend to hopeful endgame crush on your female best friend is enough to throw of the most adaptable of souls, and no one had ever accused Betty Cooper of being a fan of change. Which is why she had successfully avoided all texts incoming from Veronica that night, claiming she'd been asleep, and managed to make a complete and utter fool of herself all day, tripping over her own feet twice and causing a minor panic in science class when she shattered a beaker of what thankfully turned out to be water.

It got so bad that when Cheryl finally got tired of yelling at her in Vixens practice and told her to come back when she had more coordination than a lobotomized octopus, Betty was actually kind of grateful. Apparently she'd been suppressing a pretty serious physical attraction to Veronica on top of her emotional crush, and the acknowledgement of the one had led to the sudden and very, very visceral appearance of the other. She didn't know where to look, she didn't know where to put her hands, and she needed at least a five foot space between her and Veronica at all times in order to even formulate the shortest of sentences. Had they always touched each other so much? The brunette, of course, was being sweet and concerned and supportive and looking at her with those endlessly dark eyes and totally not helping.

"Oh my god, I didn't know it was possible for you to be more of a train wreck than usual but I guess you have always been an overachiever."

Betty wondered what she'd done so wrong in a past life that Cheryl had decided now was a good time to bully her in a deserted locker room.

"It was just a bad day."

"Honestly, I was starting to think you were having some sort of seizure out there. I was like five seconds from calling the ambulance."

"Cheryl." Her fingers reflexively curled into her palms. "Please, leave it alone."

"Like I'm scared of the girl who needs an entire pharmacy to form a simple declarative sentence. No Veronica around to protect you now, Bettykins." She'd been stalking closer and Betty was alarmed to find herself pressed back up against the lockers with a definitely crazy and possibly murderous Cheryl Blossom. "I never understood what she saw in you. Who would possibly want plain, boring Elizabeth Cooper. But then I realized, it doesn't matter. I'll still win.

"What are you talking about? Win what?"

"You don't even know it, do you? How you look at her, the two of you together. And that kiss! It was disgusting, you standing there with her lipstick smeared across your mouth, and you're probably too dumb to realize you're in love with her, much less make a move. Now it's too late. Your sister took Jason away from me; it's only fair I take something in return. Unless you're planning on doing something about it?" Cheryl cocked her head like a bird, studying Betty with cruel eyes.

"That's what I thought. Weak. You'll never be strong enough to take what you want, and that's why you'll always lose."

Cheryl turned, dismissing Betty as if she were nothing more than a particularly unpleasant piece of garbage under her shoe. Adrenaline surged in Betty's veins, and she felt faint. She desperately wanted to come up with some cutting remark that would put Cheryl in her place, make her realise that plain, boring Betty Cooper was not someone to be toyed with, but Cheryl was getting closer and closer to the door and still nothing was coming.

What would Veronica do? She would have the perfect shot, words carefully chosen to dissect all of Cheryls walls and cut her down. But she was running out of time.

Wait.

Wait.

A thought.

Maybe she didn't have to know what Veronica would do. Maybe, all this time, she just needed to know what Betty, deep down in her heart, where there was a strength Veronica had shown to her than even Betty didn't know existed.

"Wait." Even Betty was surprised at the sound of her own voice. Cheryl turned around.

"I'm sorry Cheryl. I'm sorry your brother is dead and your family sucks and you don't have any friends so you're resorting to stealing mine. Honestly, if I had your life I would probably be a bitch too. So I'm glad you've found someone you can confide in to help you right now."

She straightened to her full height, trying to exude every ounce of courage and self-confidence she could. "But if you ever try to take Veronica away from me again I will do everything in my power to make your life such a living hell that you'll gladly jump in the river to be with your brother. Do I make myself. Perfectly. Clear?"

Cheryl scoffed, but she didn't look quite as confident as before. Betty wondered if she was thinking about the last time, in Betty's room.

"The Blue and Gold has turned up a lot of secrets in this school. Everyone has something to hide. My parents own the paper and I can tell you right now that when I get through with you, a sensation piece about how you murdered Jason will be the last of your worries."

Of course, Betty didn't have anything on Cheryl at the moment, but there was no reason for her to know that. If there was one thing she knew about the residents of Riverdale, was that they all had something to hide.

"Fine." Cheryl spat. "Now get the hell out of my locker room."

For once, Betty agreed with Cheryl on a course of action. But she didn't expect to see Veronica lingering nervously at the end of the hall. It was a good thing she was 99% adrenaline high at this point because otherwise she probably would have collapsed in a heap from the overwhelming emotions tearing up inside of her.

"Ronnie…"

Veronica grabbed her hands and pulled her out the doors, around the corner of the building to a secluded spot beneath a couple of trees. The breeze felt cool and fresh and Betty appreciated its grounding effect even as she steeled herself for the second rejection of her young life.

Veronica spoke first. "So, you probably shouldn't be threatening to bring down the awesome power of the press on Cheryl so soon after her brother's funeral. But she totally deserved it." She was still holding Betty's hands. "I'm sorry, I know I've cancelled on you a couple of times this week, but I really did think she needed a friend. I didn't know she was hatching some kind of elaborate revenge plot. Besides...you know I would always choose you, right?"

Betty smiled. "Right. We're a package deal. B and V."

"Was it true, what she said?"

Betty didn't ask what. It was obvious what Veronica meant.

 _Be brave,_ she thought. _Be the woman you want to be._ She pulled Veronica closer.

"Don't freak out. Just trust me."

Veronica's mischievous smile sparkled in her eyes when Betty did her best to kiss it off her lips.


End file.
